Education Appears to Protect Older Adults Against Memory Loss

A study by the Georgetown University Medical Center published in Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition suggests that children, especially girls, with longer education are better armed against memory problems when they are older, reports Tech Explorist . The study evaluated declarative memory in 704 adults 58 to 98 years old. Declarative memory concerns the ability to recall events, facts, and words. Participants were displayed drawings of objects, and a few minutes later were tested on their memory of those objects. Although memory performance became progressively worse with aging, persons with more years of early-life education compensated for these losses — particularly in women. Memory gains in men associated with each year of education were twice the size of losses experienced during each year of aging, but were five times larger in women. "Evidence suggests that girls often have better declarative memory than boys so that education may lead to greater knowledge gains in girls," said Georgetown University Professor Michael Ullman. "Education may thus particularly benefit memory abilities in women, even years later in old age."